Sunday, November 25, 2018

The new Mr Mulligans Adventure Golf venue opening in Birmingham will welcome its first customers before Christmas.

Mr Mulligans Birmingham course will follow in the footsteps of the Newcastle Space Golf venue

Work is nearing completion on the new indoor Adventure Golf centre at Broadway Plaza in Birmingham. Mr Mulligans Space Golf will feature three nine-hole courses with a Martian theme, as well as a bar and restaurant.

Newcastle's Space Golf course had a lunar theme

Mr Mulligans Space Golf in Birmingham will be the 12th venue from the team at Mr Mulligans. The 11th course in Bournemouth and more are to follow!

About to land an ace

We've played a number of the Mr Mulligans Adventure Golf courses, most recently at the Space Golf course in Newcastle. Those three layouts were the 841st, 842nd and 843rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Monday, November 12, 2018

A visit to Gravitee Adventure Golf at the Ozone Leisure Park in Oxford.

Gravitee Adventure Golf in Oxford

We were recently back in my home town of Abingdon-on-Thames for a special Bun Throwing event and while down south took the opportunity to swing by the new Gravitee Adventure Golf courses at the Ozone Leisure Park next to the Kassam Stadium in Oxford.

Gravitee Adventure Golf is home to two 18-hole courses - the Space Odyssey and the Galactic Explorers - and they became the 852nd and 853rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The new Gravitee Adventure Golf layouts are superb and we had two fun rounds there.

A very smaller crater to putt through

It was the first time in over twenty years that I had a game of minigolf with my parents! It's amazing to think that Emily and I have visited so many courses in the last twelve years, but not had a game during our travels.

A pair of Galactic Explorers on the course

The matches were very close, with my dad Chris taking an early lead on the Space Odyssey course, before a disastrous seven on the tenth hole put a dent in his hopes of winning.

Emily took the victory on the Space Odyssey layout with a round of 47. I shot a 49, Chris a 53 and my mum Mary carded a 56. Emily and my dad were the only players to hit a hole-in-one, both acing the 18th.

Moving on to the Galactic Explorers course and Emily took a fine win with a score of 42. I was second again with a round of 46, while my mum and dad both shot rounds of 50.

Almost a hole-in-one by what looks like Zaphod Beeblebrox!

The stargate

Putting on the Galactic Explorers course at Gravitee Golf

We really enjoyed our competitive and fun rounds on the Gravitee Golf courses and had a drink in the bar area to cool off after the games. I also had a game of Air Hockey against my dad, which I won 7-4.

The theming at the indoor Adventure Golf venue is fantastic. The courses were built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. The Martian landscape on the Galactic Explorers course is incredibly well done, while the UV glow-in-the-dark section of the Space Odyssey course is the best I've seen on my travels.

Searching out Invader street art in Manchester.

As a fan of retro videogames, tickable lists and urban exploration it's been brilliant to go 'Invader Hunting' in Manchester over the last year.

A Super Mario Invader - MAN_17 - 30 points

French street artist Invader visited the city in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

Yesterday I managed to find the last of the Invaders currently in place in Manchester.

Invader Hunter

This was MAN_27 and a reactivation of a piece made by Invader in 2004. Unfortunately some of the Invaders have been destroyed or stolen, while some of the buildings the Invaders were on have been knocked down entirely!

To date I've managed to snap 37 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 770 points. I've also visited the locations of some of the destroyed / removed Invaders. Check out my Instagram profile to see more of them.

Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun. Along with Emily we've seen a lot of the city we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leaderboard for something too.

I've got a way to go before I'll be troubling the top 100

The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street.

A classic

We've also snapped a few Invaders down in London and recently saw most of the Invaders in Newcastle.

To date Invader has invaded 77 cities around the world, putting up 3692 pieces. We're hoping to visit Paris where he's put up 1371 Invaders!